Lightning
by Dance Elle Dance
Summary: And, all of a sudden, there it is. As he's looking at her, eyes fierce, body leaning over the interrogation table in a show of dominance, he finds what he's been missing for so long. Inspiration. CastleBeckett, set in early season one, oneshot


_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Castle._

_**Summary: And, all of a sudden, there it is. As he's looking at her, eyes fierce, body leaning over the interrogation table in a show of dominance, he finds what he's been missing for so long. Inspiration. CastleBeckett, set in early season one, oneshot**_

_My first Castle fic! I'm so in love with this show and have been wanting to write for it for the longest time, but just haven't had the time - or the motivation - to just sit down and write. Which is pretty sad. But, I'm really excited to finally get involved in this fandom. I'm positive this won't be the last I write for this lovely show! I really hope y'all enjoy and that I do the characters justice!_

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**Lightning**

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Opportunities, Richard Castle thought, often came at the most inopportune times. Or the most strange, or the most completely unexpectedly pleasant.

He figured that this one qualified as all three.

Since laying eyes on Detective Kate Beckett, his mind had been a flurry of thoughts. Most of them were rather nonsensical, as per usual, while others made a shocking amount of sense. Those were the ones that he finds himself most vexed by. He would have never expected to be face-to-face with a real life detective under such interesting circumstances, and then to have those circumstances exceed his wildest imaginative attempts.

Surely, it all started out as this "serious" thing, but then morphed into the kind of...almost buddy-cop (sans the "cop" on his part, mind you) camaraderie that he just loved. It was new and fun, like a toy fresh out of the box, one that he could not stop playing with, no matter how much he tried.

Then, as the days moved on, with case after case after case, Castle finds himself...fidgety.

It's a feeling he has had before, one that he recognizes all too well, one that makes him feel as if things are right with the world again.

He first recognizes The Feeling on their inaugural case together. It's a simple moment, one that has been recreated on many of his must-watch cop dramas, but somehow, Kate Beckett interviewing some scumbag is the most enthralling thing he's ever seen.

As he's looking at her, eyes fierce, body leaning over the interrogation table in a show of dominance, he finds what he's been missing for so long.

Inspiration.

It's something that he hasn't felt for so long - pure, unadulterated inspiration, unmarred by the pressures of creating a new best-seller, something that is as rare as making a best-seller in the first place.

As the case moves forward, he finds himself inspired by the most minute things - the way the light catches her hair, the way her eyes almost always have that determined stare, the way she purses her lips when she's deep in thought, the way her voice dips down seriously when questioning a suspect.

And he wants to write about all of it.

The two of them work together. He gets himself into trouble more times than he can count - which, really, isn't an odd thing at all, considering his reputation - and she saves him. And he saves her a few times, too, but she won't admit it. He thinks that's one of the things he likes most about her.

He thinks of all of these different scenarios to place this new character in - a character that resembles _her _most of all. Tall, leggy, brunette, with a passion for justice and who won't rest until the criminal ends up behind bars. He thinks of different bad guys for her to take down, and for a partner - a partner who soon takes on some of his characteristics. He tries not to think what this means, but it is always there at the back of his mind.

Castle thinks of a name, and surprisingly, it comes to him as quickly as the simplest of thoughts. _Heat,_ he thinks. _Nicole...Nicolette...Nikki? Nikki Heat? I like that._

Because when he looks at Kate Beckett, all he can think of is that. The fiery look she gets in her eyes when she stares down an opponent, the heated way she interrogates her suspects. It fits, and she might find it ridiculous, but it's so _her_.

Plus, it'll sell novels, so there's that.

So, with a smile, as he types the last paragraph of his first (of hopefully many) Nikki Heat novels, he thinks of how many adventures he can conjure up with this new character, and the fact that he just may be on to something brilliant.

And, really, he's not just talking about the book.

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_**End.**_


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